An unsigned editorial in what was then called The Atlantic Monthly, in December 2001, pointed out how wrong Leo Tolstoy was in his opening sentence to Anna Karenina, when he wrote: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

“No, that is exactly wrong,” the Atlantic piece responded. “Happy families are wildly, even eccentrically, diverse. But in every unhappy family, as any social worker can tell you, you will likely find the same dreary woes: Dead love, physical or psychological brutality, alcoholism, infidelity, poverty.”

For “alcoholism,” one must substitute “addiction”: While binge drinking is one of the unfortunate problems among some local youth, addiction to harder drugs is increasingly prevalent. Eyebrows went up when councillors were told of kids as young as 12 using crystal meth.

All of which might have remained sadly under the radar of anyone but the triumvirate of police, social work and public health agencies represented at Tuesday’s finance and administration committee meeting, were it not for the tragedy of Damian Sobieraj’s death at Hardy Park last September.

Tragedies concentrate the mind, so locals came together into a “community youth situation table,” and on Tuesday Fournier, as well as Erin Lee Marcotte, director of service at Family and Children’s Services of Lanark, Leeds and Grenville, and Jennifer Labelle, a public health nurse at the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Heath Unit, presented findings and recommendations.

They included the observation about 12-year-olds using crystal meth, while other drugs of choice among our youth include cocaine and ecstasy, and binge drinking remains an issue.

The troubles facing these young people include poverty, addictions, domestic violence and mental illness, leading to family breakdowns and youth homelessness or near homelessness.

The kids try to cope, the trio added, through drugs and alcohol, often by congregating in what are now familiar places to police.

“I’m concerned and sad,” said Coun. Larry Journal, who called the findings a “reality check.”

Journal, the finance committee chairman, thankfully went beyond concern and sadness which, just like thoughts and prayers, are meant to be a starting point.

His response was the institutional one. which has its place: Cycling the different recommendations through the appropriate committees and doing a “gap analysis” to find out where more money needs to be spent.

It’s easy to dismiss this kind of stuff as hopelessly governmental – local governmental, at that, with such seemingly insufficient responses as installing “blue box” phones and intercoms so frightened folks at Hardy Park can report youths congregating, or maybe trimming back trees so we can see these kids from a greater distance after dark.

Efforts to change the physical environment are, nonetheless, a start. They can have subtle effects if they make the general public feel more secure and, therefore, less inclined to avoid certain areas. They can also enhance the real work of policing, if, as Coun. Jeff Earle suggested, they include such upgrades as drones with infrared capabilities.

High tech surveillance is one thing, but getting at the “dreary woes” that continue destroying families since before the age of Tolstoy is a more difficult job.

Young people, said Coun. Nathalie Lavergne, “are not inspired by anyone and it’s a little bit our own fault.”

Even those families not plagued by abuse, addiction and mental illness may see parents letting kids distract themselves on their phones, so the adults can continue busying themselves on their own.

“We need to show them that they are our future, but also that they are important to us,” said Lavergne.

Her comments echoed those of Fournier, who told council: “We have to let youth know that they’re important to our community.”

If addressing the physical environment is an important first step, letting young people know they are valued and invited into the civic space is the important next step.

It may or may not put a dent in the actual rates of youth crime; it will do little to combat such timeless plagues as domestic violence or addiction; and it will not stop the physical influx of drugs such as opiates into the city.

But bringing at least some of the youth population into the civic sphere will create deeper and healthier ways to respond to the crises now afflicting our younger people.

And that, too, will be an important early step in a long journey.

City hall reporter Ronald Zajac can be reached at Rzajac@postmedia.com.